Questioning Authority

October 26, 2023 Matthew 22:34-46 Questioning Authority 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Year A Stewardship Week 1 Prelude Welcome Call to Worship (Inspired by Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17) One: The Holy One has been our hope and our home. Many: God has been with us from generation to generation. One: We flourish and fade, bloom and renew in God’s time. Many: Our lives are temporal and precious and glorious. One: May the compassion and favor of the Holy One be with us. Many: May we be glad and prosperous in our work for our God! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Invocation Righteous God, your law is love. Your message is love. Your presence is love. May Love fill our atmosphere and our interactions as we gather together in your name. May Love transform us, renew us, and revive us. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Song Make me a Channel of your Peace TFWS 2171 Children’s Sermon Then ask a volunteer to come forward and draw/color each of the following body parts while you come up with ways that you can use them to show love. Then see if they can think of another body part they can use to show love. • Ears (example: listening when others are talking, listening in church) • Eyes (example: paying attention to others needs, reading the Bible) • Nose & Mouth (example: singing hymns and praise music, speaking kind words) • Mind (example: learning about Jesus, thinking of new ways to help) • Heart (example: praying to God, telling your parents you love them) • Hands (example: holding the door, cleaning up the sanctuary) • Feet (example: going on mission trips, walking with someone to their car) • Before we get started, there are a few actions you need to know. When I say ‘LOVE’ I need you to cross your arms over your chest like your giving yourself a great big hug. When I say ‘HEART’ I need you to make a heart shape with your hands. When I say ‘SOUL’ I need you to point both thumbs at your chest. When I say ‘MIND’ I need you to put your hands on your head. And when I say ‘NEIGHBOR’ I need you to point at anyone else in the room. Now let’s get started. • The Bible has a lot to say about LOVE. It tells you God LOVES you. It tells you that God wants you to LOVE him. It tells you to LOVE your NEIGHBOR. There is so much in the Bible about LOVE that some people call it a LOVE letter. A long time ago when Jesus was on earth, people thought the Bible was just about rules. Do this. Don’t do that. Say this. Wear that. Go here. Worship there. Rule after rule after rule. • There was a little bit about LOVE, but there were so many rules that was all people cared about. • But LOVE was all Jesus cared about. He came here to show each one of us just how much He LOVES us. He LOVES us so much that even died for our sins so we can live with Him forever and always. • There were a whole bunch of people who really liked Jesus’ message of LOVE, but there were also a bunch of people who really liked the rules. They thought following the rules was all that mattered, but they forgot that everyone makes mistakes sometimes and disobeys those rules. And then what?!? Is that it? One broken rule and it’s all over? No way! Jesus came so that even when we make mistakes, He can save us. It’s such an amazing way to show just how much He LOVES us. • One day the rule followers wanted to know what Jesus thought was the most important one of all. If we could only ever follow one single rule, which one would it be? They expected Jesus to say one of the 10 Commandments; like obeying your parents, or keeping the Sabbath a day only for God. But Jesus had an even better one. The best rule of all, and it’s all bout LOVE. • Jesus said, “LOVE the Lord your God with all your HEART and with all your SOUL and with all your MIND. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: LOVE your NEIGHBOR as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40 NIV • Jesus turned all of those rules into just two simple ones. LOVE God. And LOVE others. When you keep the Sabbath as a day for Jesus, that’s a way of loving Him. And when you obey your parents, that’s a way of loving them. Every single rule can fit into one of those two. It was so simple. • Now what do you think it means to LOVE God with all your HEART, SOUL, and MIND? It really just means that you LOVE Him completely. So you can’t just say you LOVE God, or just put money in the offering, or just listen to the sermon; you need to LOVE God all the time and in every way. • And thankfully, Jesus LOVES us so much that forgives us when we forget to LOVE Him and our NEIGHBORS like we should. Which is great news, because everyone could use a little more LOVE. (Ministry to Children, Stephanie Fernandez) Prayer of Brokenness Loving God, we confess that we are quick to judge and move to judgment at breakneck speed. We do not slow down to consider another point of view or give pause to allow compassion to open our hearts. We want to do right and to be right, sometimes at a cost. Remind us of how deeply You love us, how Your Son bent down to draw in the dirt before the crowd that wanted to condemn another. Call us into that same sacred pause, to remember that we are all human beings, all made in Your image, all Your children. May we withdraw our sharp words and judgments and instead break open our hearts for compassionate, deep listening to one another. In the name of Christ, who in all humility laid down his life for each of us, that we might have abundant life full of pauses, full of compassion, full of love, we pray. Amen. Rev-o-lution.com, Rev. Mindi) Blessing You are precious to God, so loved and so worthy of love. I know you may not feel it all the time, but it is true: God loves you madly. God’s love is written inside your heart and can never be removed, never changed, never diminished. Know this, in your heart of hearts, that you are made in God’s image and that image is love. Go share that love with the world. Amen. (Rev-o-lution.com, Rev. Mindi) Scripture Matthew 22:34-46 Sermon Questioning Authority Benjamin Franklin had 13 virtues that he felt necessary for every person to have in order to live a productive life – Temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity and humility. Franklin did not consider himself a particularly religious person, but he did occasionally go to church, and even though he probably could not name the verse, they are all included in the bible. I think sometimes we would all like to have a short summary of what the bible is all about – it would be nice to have a little chart that tells us what the bible is all about. Well if you look at psalm 15 – it gives you the bible in 11 easy points, in Isaiah 35 – it gives you 6 easy points. In Micah 6:8 there are three points – what does the lord require of you – act justly, love faithfulness and to walk humbly with God. Amos says that there is only one thing – seek God and live. Jesus gets it down to 2 principles – love God with everything and love your neighbor. John Wesley and Martin Luther get it to one – grace. Rabbi Hillel (Died 6 years before Jesus was born) said,(when challenged by a Gentile to repeat the entire Torah on one foot) "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn" As we come to the last days of the Christian Year (December 1st is the new year), we come to the end of Matthew and the end of Jesus’ earthly life. Matthew has been following Jesus’ life, but mostly his earthly journey – when we realized that he was a prophet, all he has wanted to do was to go to Jerusalem – to question the powers that be and to teach the people. His dream has come true- he is teaching and people are listening. He has gotten the attention of the religious authorities – and now they are questioning him. Questioning is a great honor – it means that his teaching is worthy of debate. Matthew 22 is the chapter about that debate. Two weeks ago he talks about the kingdom of heaven – being a great party where everyone is invited and no one wants to come. In the middle of the chapter – he challenges the sadducees on resurrection and explains that in life after death that we are all equals – we stand before God. The saducees are mad because they don’t believe in life after death. The pharisees are impressed because they do – they want to hear more from this Jesus. Who seems to know the torah law, even though he never studied with him. He does well in talking about the shema – love the lord with all of your heart and soul. He even does well when he talks about loving your neighbor – that is in Leviticus how the treat the migrants amongst you. But does he really understand the 10 commandments – Jesus even says that they are testing him now. Who is the messiah? After all – the ten commandments says to honor your mother and father. If David says that the messiah is his lord in psalm 110, how could anyone today be the messiah. The messiah can’t be alive today – because we are all sons of David, thus less then him if we respect him as an elder. Jesus reminds him again that in the resurrection, all people are equal – we all have to stand before God on our own. He had just had this conversation with the saducess. In god’s world, there are no elders. The messiah could be anyone – and still respect his elders. Scripture says that at this point they stopped asking questions. This man was way too smart for his own good. Jesus does not say anything that is not already in the bible – he just presents it in a whole new way for a whole new generation. We are the generation the loves jesus and remembers his words to live by. Jesus reminds us that all of the bible be summed up in one word – used in two sentences. Love – which comes from God – receive it from God and give it to your neighbor. Yes, that is two sentences – but Jesus actually tells us about three loves. Love God, Love your neighbor and to love yourself. That is important – because I really think that a lot of time – we forget about the third one. As Christians we tend to think that love is selfless, and not selfish. We neglect our own self care. We think that if we show love to others, then we should not include ourselves. We think that is we are focused on God that we are not focused on ourselves. Loving Ourselves She was a beautiful Scandinavian girl. She had come to the hotel room of Dr. and Mrs. Walter Trobisch for counseling, just one day after they had given a lecture at one of the universities of northern Europe. As they talked about her problems, one basic issue kept coming up – one that seemed to be at the root at all her problems. She could not love herself! In fact, she hated herself so much that she was only a step away from ending her own life. She had been raised in a very religious home. Her parents were sincere, no doubt, but they had given her a terribly distorted understanding of the Christian life. Because of what her parents and pastors had taught her, she was afraid of affirming any good thing about herself. She was afraid that self- appreciation would lead to pride, and pride would lead to alienation from God. So, for her, the life of faith required self-depreciation – putting herself down! She believed that rejection of the self was the only way to God! That’s why her religious convictions led her to the brink of suicide. During the counseling session there in the hotel room, Dr. Trobisch led her to a mirror where he asked her to look carefully at her image. She turned away, unable to look at herself. He held her head gently but firmly and made her look into her own eyes. Obviously the experience was painful for her emotionally. Dr. Trobisch asked her to repeat after him: “I am a beautiful girl – I am a beautiful girl.” But she couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t do it - because in her eyes that was sinful. Where did we ever get the idea that to affirm ourselves, to appreciate ourselves is wrong? Certainly we didn’t get that from Jesus. When we read the gospels carefully, we discover that Jesus went around day after day looking for the good in people, pointing it out to them, and asking them to celebrate it. And, in the scripture from the 22nd chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells us to love our neighbors. How? As we love ourselves. Notice that Jesus does not say we are to love our neighbors instead of ourselves. We are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It is inarguable: Jesus wants us to love ourselves! James McCormick, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Being Compassionate Is More than Kindness Being compassionate involves more than kindness. It is the passion to develop strategies and structure to lift up those who are down. If our political and economic systems allow the marginalized to fall between society's cracks, then we who have been loved into action by a compassionate God are encouraged to challenge the existing order or to find ways to alter their predicament. To fail to do this is to lose God in the chaos of society. The great Norwegian novelist, Johan Bojer, makes that point powerfully in his story, The Great Hunger. It happened that an anti-social newcomer moved into the village and put a fence around his property with a sign saying, “Keep Out.” He also put a vicious dog in the fence to keep anyone from climbing it. One day, the neighbor’s little girl reached inside the fence to pet the dog and the dog grabbed her by the arm and savagely bit and killed her. The townspeople were enraged and refused to speak to the recluse. They wouldn’t sell him groceries at the store. When it came time for planting, they wouldn’t sell him seed. The man became destitute and didn’t know what to do. One day he saw another man sowing seed on his field. He ran out and discovered it was the father of the little girl. “Why are you doing this?” he asked.” The father replied, “I am doing this to keep God alive in me.” David Zersen, Searching for Better Questions Keeping God alive inside of us takes practice, preparation and perspiration – act justly, love faithfully, walk humbly. I want to give you some scenarios – and in each one I want you to think about what you would do. But the challenge is to be as selfish as possible. You are having lunch with two friends. And when it comes to dessert there are only two cakes – and you love cream cakes. What do you do? You family has had a dinner party – and now that the guest have left, there are tons of dishes in the sink and there are five people in the family. What do you do? Remember to be selfish. Whatever you thought of to do for yourself – Jesus challenge to us – do it for others. When Jesus says that we should love God and Love our neighbor – he is not just talking about 2 loves, or three loves, but 4 loves. Love God, Love neighbor, love ourselves – and love Jesus. When we think of those 4 loves – everything else falls into place. In Love with Christ Legend has it that a wealthy merchant traveling through the Mediterranean world looking for the distinguished Pharisee, Paul, encountered Timothy, who arranged a visit. Paul was, at the time, a prisoner in Rome. Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a rather old man, physically frail, but whose serenity and magnetism challenged the visitor. They talked for hours. Finally the merchant left with Paul's blessing. Outside the prison, the concerned man inquired, "What is the secret of this man's power? I have never seen anything like it before." Did you not guess?" replied Timothy. "Paul is in love." The merchant looked bewildered. "In Love?" "Yes," the missionary answered, "Paul is in love with Jesus Christ." The merchant looked even more bewildered. "Is that all?" Smiling, Timothy replied, "Sir, that is everything." G. Curtis Jones, Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, Nashville: Broadman, 1986, p. 225. One way to cope with the abundance of laws is to just use your common sense and to work by rules of thumb. For example, for driving: go the speed limit, yield to the right, stay to the right unless passing, etc. When you are filling out your income tax: don't cheat or lie! What about your daily life? Well, maybe the so-called golden rule: treat others the way you would want to be treated by them. L. Gregory Bloomquist, Remembering to Do the Right Thing If we wanted to sum up the bible and keep a cheat sheet of what the bible teaches us to do in every situation – let us remember the words of a song that all of us learned a long time ago – Jesus Loves me this I know – for the bible tells me so. Amen. Song Pass it On UMH 572 Pastoral Prayer Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Gary Chapman wrote a book for couples, and another for children, identifying “5 love languages”. In these books, Chapman demonstrates how learning the language of your loved one/s and acting out your love in that particular way demonstrates your deep connection. The five languages are physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time and gifts. When Jesus was asked about which commandment was the greatest, his answer came in 2 parts: “love God” and “love your neighbor”. I want to use Chapman’s languages as a way to help us consider an answer to “HOW do I act out my love of God and neighbor?” We can demonstrate our love with physical touch: Shaking hands, providing a hug, squatting down to be on eye level with a child and responding positively if that child wants to come sit with you in worship! Words of affirmation: in our worship, our prayers, our meditations, and in our encounters with others on the street, at school, at work, or in our home, words of affirmation speak our love: “well done!” “you’re the best!” “you make me happy” “you fill me up” Acts of service: coming early to host at church, stepping up to serve a meal, helping an elderly person get their leaves raked, bringing cold water to the charity walk participants Quality time: focused time in worship, Bible study, Sunday School, one-on-one time at home, at work, or on “date night” Gifts: a simple flower, a thank you note, and yes, your weekly offering of a portion of what God has first given you. How will you show your love for God and neighbor as we receive our morning offering? Prayer of Thanksgiving All things come from you, O God. Receive and accept the gifts we now offer you. Help us use them wisely, that our love for you and for our neighbor might be made known as we utilize these gifts in the ministries of this congregation. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook We do not leave this sanctuary and leave God behind. God’s law is clear. We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. May this commandment be ever before us; guiding us, inspiring us, enabling us to be Christ’s body – his hands, his feet, his heart – in this, God’s world. May the grace, hope, peace, and love of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer be with us all, now and forever. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri Ott McDowell) Community Time - Joys and Concerns Benediction Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Go forth into this aching, hurting world with God’s love, offering healing, hope, and peace to all. Go in peace and may God’s peace surround you always. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener – The Two Most Important Questions a Christian Can Answer – Matthew 22:34-46 Isidor Isaac Rabi, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, and one of the developers of the atomic bomb, was once asked how he became a scientist. Rabi replied that every day after school his mother would talk to him about his school day. She wasn't so much interested in what he had learned that day, but how he conducted himself in his studies. She always inquired, "Did you ask a good question today?" "Asking good questions," Rabi said, "made me become a scientist." In order to ask a good question I think you need to have noble motives behind the question. You have to want to know the truth. The Pharisees, by contrast, already had the answers to their questions. They felt they already knew the truth. How many times have we had it in for someone, asking a question designed to trap them? We do it to our loved ones all the time. In a moment like this we are not trying to learn; we are trying to injure. The Pharisees come to Jesus once again with a question designed to do damage to the reputation of Jesus. And once again Jesus proves he is equal to the task. Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Now, even though this question was used to test Jesus, it is nonetheless an important question. Perhaps in the life of Israel at that time it was THE most important question. But Jesus had a question of his own. A question, which signified that the times were changing; a new theological season had come. He put this question to the same Pharisees who had tested him: “What do you think of the Messiah. Whose son is he?” These were the two most important questions of that era and my friends they are the two most important questions of our time. Let us consider… 1. Which Commandment Is the Greatest? 2. What Do You Think of the Messiah? The Right Kind of Devotion In order that we may know how to love ourselves, an end has been established for us to which we are to refer all our action, so that we may attain to bliss. For if we love ourselves, our one wish is to achieve blessedness. Now this end is to cling to God. Thus, if we know how to love ourselves, the commandant to love our neighbor bids us to do all we can to bring our neighbor to love God. This is the worship of God; this is true religion; this is the right kind of devotion; this is the service which is owed to God alone. Augustine, City of God ____________________________ In Love with Christ Legend has it that a wealthy merchant traveling through the Mediterranean world looking for the distinguished Pharisee, Paul, encountered Timothy, who arranged a visit. Paul was, at the time, a prisoner in Rome. Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a rather old man, physically frail, but whose serenity and magnetism challenged the visitor. They talked for hours. Finally the merchant left with Paul's blessing. Outside the prison, the concerned man inquired, "What is the secret of this man's power? I have never seen anything like it before." Did you not guess?" replied Timothy. "Paul is in love." The merchant looked bewildered. "In Love?" "Yes," the missionary answered, "Paul is in love with Jesus Christ." The merchant looked even more bewildered. "Is that all?" Smiling, Timothy replied, "Sir, that is everything." G. Curtis Jones, Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, Nashville: Broadman, 1986, p. 225. ____________________________ Practice, Preparation, and Perspiration In a wonderful little book, "Dudley's Dog Days: Joining Faith to Life," by Harley G. Rusch, the family has just bought a cocker spaniel puppy named Dudley. On their way to grandma's house to show off the newest member of the family, they stop at an ice cream store. It was a hot summer day -- and, of course, Dudley was given an ice cream cone, too. Next they stopped at a hamburger stand for some food, which, of course, Dudley had to eat, too. Dudley had hardly gotten the hamburger down, when it came right back up -- along with the remains of the ice cream and cone. They get to grandma's house, who quickly gave her grown son a tongue-lashing: "How could you give a puppy an ice-cream? Don't you know anything about taking care of a puppy?" The author writes about his experience: We were inexperienced at showing love to a dog. Although we loved him at first sight, the technique by which we showed that love needed a lot of improvement. It would not be the last time either. The first walk, the first trip to the vet, the first night, all proved that some expertise was needed in the art of loving a puppy. Society has told us by means of movies and television that love is something that just happens. Caring for another is something you just do. How wrong can they be? To love takes the desire but also a lot of practice, preparation, and perspiration. We discovered with Dudley that there are proper and correct ways to show love. There are also acts that can be motivated by love, but can in effect be unloving -- like ice-cream cones for puppies. The love Jesus calls for is more than just warm feelings. It can often involve "practice, preparation, and perspiration." In some cases loving others means giving a dose of "tough love.” Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes The Complexity of the Situation The Constitution of the United States started off with only 7 articles and 21 sections that took up only four handwritten pages including signatures! 4 pages! But to that we added 27 amendments. Today, the United States Code, which is all of the laws in this country, fills up around 80 volumes of books, nearly 800,000 pages, and this doesn’t even include the Federal Regulations. In 1942, the Virginia Code was a single book that had 2800 pages. Today, the Virginia Code is a 25-volume set of books with 15,000 pages, nearly 20,000 separate laws! And that is just Virginia! But, let’s not think for a moment that we are the only ones to take something simple and make it complex. God gave the Israelites something simple to follow, the Ten Commandments. Just ten simple rules to follow. Nothing complex about it. But were the Israelites content with just ten commandments? Oh, no. They ended up making 613 separate commandments, 365 negative and 248 positive. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Try following all those laws in order to be considered faithful and righteous, and you probably thought the original ten was hard enough. For the lawyer and the Pharisees there was certainly a complex issue at stake. The Israelites were under assault from a man who claimed to be God, and who did God-like things. But this man was a Jew; he should have known better, no one is God, but God. Yet, he was a man who knew and quoted the Hebrew scripture, who knew the laws and commandments better than any religious leader. The Pharisees had to put a stop to it, the situation was getting out of control, it was becoming too complex to let it go on much longer. This man must be stopped and the only why to stop him was to discredit him. And what better way to discredit Jesus, the Jew, than to ask him such a question, on a complex issue about the greatest commandment, that any answer he gave would spell defeat. Author Unknown Love: Committing Oneself Fully One of my professors spoke of a young couple who wanted to write their own wedding vows. Instead of vowing to stay together "until death," they wanted to say, "For as long as our love shall last." As my professor noted, "Mistaking affection for love could mean they would divorce following their first real argument.” If we allow our culture’s definitions of "love" to define what Jesus meant, then surely we will miss his point. Neither lust nor affection is at the heart of the faith. So what then did Jesus mean when he said that we are to love God and neighbor? Scholar Douglas Hare points out that "love" in the biblical tradition is marked by concretely expressed commitment. To love is to have an unwavering commitment to another, a commitment that expresses itself tangibly. "Love," as Jesus uses it here, is a call to commit one’s self fully and concretely to both God and neighbor Donald M. Tuttle There Is More Than You Know In her book Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Kathleen Norris recounts [her own spiritual] journey: Even as I exemplified the pain and anger of a feminist looking warily at a religion that has so often used a male savior to keep women in their place, I was drawn to the strong old women in the congregation. Their well-worn Bibles said to me, 'There is more here than you know,' and made me take more seriously the religion that had caused my grandmother Totten's Bible to be so well used that its spine broke. I also began, slowly, to make sense of our gatherings on Sunday morning, recognizing, however dimly, that church is to be participated in . . . The point is not what one gets out of it, but the worship of God; the service takes place both because of and despite the needs, strengths and frailties of the people present. How else could it be? "There is more here than you know." Could this be the real message of Jesus' perplexing question to the Pharisees? His riddle illustrates that unlearning things is sometimes necessary before new and true learning can occur. More specifically, it points to the way that Christ both fulfills and transform our expectations and definitions. Anthony B. Robinson, article in The Christian Century, October 6, 1993, “Encountering a Riddle” Give Me Jesus Dr. Paul Wee, a staff member of the Lutheran World Federation, recalls standing at the bedside of dying archbishop, Janis Matulis, of Latvia. A visitor had just sung, at Matulis’ request, an old spiritual with the words, “Oh, when I am alone, when I am alone, give me Jesus.” Matulis then asked those around his bed: “Do you know why this song means so much to me? Three times war passed over Latvia, killing two-fifths of our people. They burned down my church and destroyed Bibles and hymnals. They took away my wife, and I never saw her again. When it was all gone, I realized that I had nothing else in this world but Jesus Christ. [That realization] was like a breath of freedom. From that moment on, I learned how to use whatever came my way--little bits of medicine left over, a piece of coal, apples, spices--so that somehow the sacrament of God’s love would be shared with the larger community because of Jesus Christ.” That’s what happens when we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves. We come to a new understanding of who Christ is. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.eSermons.com ________________________________________________________ Remembering to Do the Right Thing How's your memory? Do you have difficulty remembering to do certain things? How about names? What about when it comes to laws? Do you always remember all the laws that apply when you are driving? How about when you are filling out your income tax? What about your daily life: do you always remember what is involved in doing the right thing? Do you always remember to do the right thing? That presupposes that you even know all the laws that are out there. But I find that I have difficulty not only REMEMBERING everything that I'm supposed to remember, but even KNOWING everything that I'm supposed to KNOW! For example, I didn't know for a long time that in Ottawa you could turn left from a one-way street on to a one-way street. I saw people doing it and I thought they were just taking a short-cut. Someone going to North Carolina might not know that of the 100 counties in North Carolina you cannot swear in public in 98 of them, but that you can in 2 of them, nor might they know which 2 they are! Or what about situations that arise that are not covered by any law? What about when you go out for a meal? What about at work? What about when you are getting on an airplane? One way to cope with the abundance of laws is to just use your common sense and to work by rules of thumb. For example, for driving: go the speed limit, yield to the right, stay to the right unless passing, etc. When you are filling out your income tax: don't cheat or lie! What about your daily life? Well, maybe the so-called golden rule: treat others the way you would want to be treated by them. L. Gregory Bloomquist, Remembering to Do the Right Thing Short Quotes on Happiness Opera diva Beverly Sills asked why so bubbly–“Are you always as happy as you appear to be? "No, I'm not a happy person. I am a cheerful person. A happy woman has no cares. A cheerful woman has plenty of cares but handles them." “A man is occupied by that from which he expects to gain happiness, but his greatest happiness is the fact that he is occupied.” French philosopher Alain (1868-1951). “If, as claimed by humanism, man were born only to be happy, he would not be born to die.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn Being Compassionate Is More than Kindness Loving Ourselves She was a beautiful Scandinavian girl. She had come to the hotel room of Dr. and Mrs. Walter Trobisch for counseling, just one day after they had given a lecture at one of the universities of northern Europe. As they talked about her problems, one basic issue kept coming up – one that seemed to be at the root at all her problems. She could not love herself! In fact, she hated herself so much that she was only a step away from ending her own life. She had been raised in a very religious home. Her parents were sincere, no doubt, but they had given her a terribly distorted understanding of the Christian life. Because of what her parents and pastors had taught her, she was afraid of affirming any good thing about herself. She was afraid that self- appreciation would lead to pride, and pride would lead to alienation from God. So, for her, the life of faith required self-depreciation – putting herself down! She believed that rejection of the self was the only way to God! That’s why her religious convictions led her to the brink of suicide. During the counseling session there in the hotel room, Dr. Trobisch led her to a mirror where he asked her to look carefully at her image. She turned away, unable to look at herself. He held her head gently but firmly and made her look into her own eyes. Obviously the experience was painful for her emotionally. Dr. Trobisch asked her to repeat after him: “I am a beautiful girl – I am a beautiful girl.” But she couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t do it - because in her eyes that was sinful. Where did we ever get the idea that to affirm ourselves, to appreciate ourselves is wrong? Certainly we didn’t get that from Jesus. When we read the gospels carefully, we discover that Jesus went around day after day looking for the good in people, pointing it out to them, and asking them to celebrate it. And, in the scripture from the 22nd chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells us to love our neighbors. How? As we love ourselves. Notice that Jesus does not say we are to love our neighbors instead of ourselves. We are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It is inarguable: Jesus wants us to love ourselves! James McCormick, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Shema In Jewish circles the single most famous verse from the Torah is the so-called Shema from Deuteronomy 6. "Shema" is the Hebrew word for "hear" or "listen" and it comes from that verse, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." The Shema was traditionally recited by every Jewish child and adult at the start of each day and at the conclusion of each day. In other words, there was no single verse from the entire Torah that the average Jew knew better than this one. So when Jesus responded to the Pharisees' tricky question by quoting a portion of the Shema, he was throwing back in their faces something they took to be exceedingly basic, something that was second-nature to even the youngest Jewish child. It reminds you of the time Karl Barth is said to have been asked what he thought was the most profound of all theological truths. But instead of giving some jargon-laden, academic answer that used words like perichoresis, kenosis, or the insuperable transcendence of God's prevenient grace as it comes through the vicarious supererogation of the Son, Barth simply said, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." That answer was charming and disarming. Barth said, "The greatest truth is the one you already know, the one all Christians know, the one a three-year old can sing about." In Jesus' case, he was slyly insulting the Pharisees, demonstrating to everyone there that the Pharisees were not really interested in seeing if Jesus could answer their question since even the youngest person there knew that answer already. This was not a difficult question. It was like asking Albert Einstein, "Do you know what 2+2 is?" This was basic, elementary stuff. Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations _________________________________

You are invited to the Party of Faith

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington October 15, 2023 Matthew 22:1-14 You are invited to the party of faith 20th Sunday after Pentecost Year A Prelude Welcome Call to Worship L: You have been invited to a special feast. P: We need more details, for our schedules are very busy. L: This is celebration of commitment between God and God’s people. P: Maybe next time, we have other plans. What is God going to do if we don’t come? L: Your response is noted. There are many others who would be delighted to come, even on a last minute notice. God looks forward to greeting them and celebrating with them. P: Will we get a second chance? God forgive us for placing our schedules and other plans before coming to your celebration L: Patient and persistent God, we are grateful that even when we get sidetracked, you are with us. Be in our hearts and spirits today as we learn of your love through creation. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Opening Prayer Lord of diversity and union, we call upon you this day to open our hearts to your love, our ears to your words, our eyes to see the needs of those both near and far, and our spirits to do your will. Be with us and give us courage and inspiration for the future of your world, O Lord. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song Lord Listen to your Children Praying TFWS 2193 Children’s Sermon Greet children, with plenty of fun “party props” such as hats, streamers, balloons, gift wrap, noisemakers, etc. Hello, children of God! Look at all of this fun stuff! I’m ready to go to a party…have you ever been invited to a party before? I love birthday parties, and I also enjoy Christmas parties, or welcome home parties or going away parties, or…well, any kind of celebration, really! What do you like about going to parties? (Allow for quick responses.) I like getting cake, or playing games, or having a good time with people…and you know what I really love? I love getting goody bags! Isn’t it fun to take home free treats after a party? Well, it just so happens I have a goody bag here. There are some great little items inside… (Remove several small toys or treats from the bag. Lastly, take out a cross) Well, this is interesting. I don’t usually see these in birthday party treat bags, do you? Hmm… Well, in our Gospel story today, there was a party of sorts going on. Jesus told a parable about a man who was having a big party for his son. The man throwing the party was the king, and his son was getting married and having a feast. The king sent out a whole bunch of invitations to people, but a lot of them said no. They refused his invitation and rejected going to the special feast, with silly excuses. Nobody wants to go to a party with no people, right? So instead, the king went out into the streets and invited anyone and everyone to his feast. All they had to do was put on a special piece of clothing to be presentable. A lot of people got to go to the party! But some people refused to wear the special clothing. Because of that, they couldn’t stay at the feast. What does this mean for us? The parable was an explanation of how God invites us to be part of His Heavenly family. God wants everyone to be at the “party” of Heaven. And we don’t have to do anything special to do that! All it takes is accepting the free gift of salvation. Our “wedding garment” is the blood of Jesus. As long as we recognize His sacrificial death and what it means for us, our lives can be changed and made new. That’s much better than a goody bag! Because of Jesus, we are all invited to share in God’s grace. Anyone can believe and receive new life. We can also share that news and invite other people to be part of God’s family. The Gospel is a powerful and wonderful gift for all! Why don’t we thank God for that right now? Let’s pray: Children’s Prayer Moment (Have kids repeat each line) Dear God, Thank you for inviting us into your family Help us to reach out and invite others Thank you for clothing us with Christ Thank you for your love We love you, God! In Jesus name, Amen! (Ministry to Children – Kristin Schmidt) A LITANY PRAYER FOR PEACE (adapted from the United Methodist Book of Worship, #520) Jesus, Prince of Peace, hear our prayers for all the peoples of the world. Deliver us from every evil that opposes your will for peace. From the curse of war and all that creates it, O Lord, deliver us. From willful ignorance and selfish isolation, O Lord, deliver us. From fear and distrust of those not like us, O Lord, deliver us. From false pride and self-justifications, O Lord, deliver us. From the lust for riches, power and status, O Lord, deliver us. From a poverty of compassion and lives of shallow love, O Lord, deliver us. From putting our trust in the weapons of war and from want of faith in the power of justice and good will. O Lord, deliver us From every thought, word, and deed which that the human family and separates us from the perfect realization of your love Forgive us and heal us, O Lord, that we may live daily in your image. Amen Passing of the Peace Scripture Matthew 22:1-14 Sermon You are invited to the party of faith My son’s first field trip was in kindergarten, they went to the Kenosha County zoo. At the time, my son was staying with my mother, I had just moved back into town. We were both in contact with his school, and when this field trip came up, I thought it was a perfect way to bond with him. The teacher asked for parent chaperones. I was so excited when the teacher sent home chaperone instructions, and it said that we needed to have a bagged lunch just like the kids. I had memories of going on field trips as a child and my mom would pack all of my favorite snacks in the bag, so that I would have fun things to eat all day. So, on the day before the trip, I had so much fun going to the store buying things for my lunch. I was young, so I had to be economincal as well. I remember buying Wonder bread, and mayonnaise and stuff to put on the sandwich, picking out the cookies, and they had a sale on pop. You did not get pop every day for lunch, but remember, on field trip days you would get one. And in order to keep it cold all day, your mom would wrap it in foil. I even had to buy the baggies and paper bags to put the lunch in. I was so excited, I went home and fixed my lunch and put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. On the day of the trip. You had to put your name on the bag so that you could get it back for lunch. When lunch time time came, each chaperone got a group of kids that they had to eat with and there was a list of questions that we had to ask to help the kids process the trip. I remember I had a group of all boys, and as I am trying to connect with them and talk, I open my bag and realized that there was not one thing there that I was actually going to eat. I don’t eat white bread, don’t eat cold food, don’t eat store bought cookies, and I was not going to drink the 15cent generic pop that had no flavor. I closed the bag and told the boys that I would not be eating today – and I had to go hungry. The funny thing is, I realized – that I knew I wasn’t going to eat anyof that stuff when I went to the store and bought it. I knew I didn’t want it when I prepared it. And yet for some reason, I really believed in my head, that by putting all of that stuff in a brown paper bag and taking it to the zoo – that somehow things were going to change. I was going to eat – things that I know I don’t even like. I tell that story as an allegory – a story with a truth and a lesson about life. I think that is how a lot of us go to church. After it is over, we go home hungry and unfulfilled. We say – I didn’t really get anything out of church, church doesn’t move me, church is boring, church doesn’t mean anything to me. And we are convinced that it is all about the church, and not about the attiude that we bought with us when we walked in the door. We don’t think about what it is that we put in our brown paper bag to feed of when we came. If we bought preconceinved notions, expectations of people, disappointments, and frustrations with us – that is what we are going to experience while we are here. If we come with questions then we are going to leave with questions, if we dome dobtful, then we are going to leave doubtful, if we come suspicious, then we are going to leave suspicious. If we remember to pack joy, peace, and an open mind, and a willingness to meet God in a fresh new way – we don’t have to be surprised when we find it. In today’s lesson – that is what Jesus does – he tells us an allegory about real life – he tells us the story about the king’s son’s wedding. Everyone is invited – but no one want to come. This is the party of the the year, of a lifetime – where only the elite of the elite would come to be seen. And no one comes. At least in Luke’s version of the story – people give excuses why they cant come – they have family obligations, they have to work, they are sick. In Matthew’s version – they just don’t show up. Matthew gives us a glimpse of what life is like in his world. We all know that Jesus tends to be peaceful and tells us to stay away from violence. And yet Matthew takes the liberty to add his commentary to the story. This story takes place with very violent undertones – first, the people who give the invitation are killed by the people, and then the king goes out and kills them and destroys their city. This is a very important detail in light of current events. Matthew is telling this story in the midst of a revolution – so he wants us to understand the conditions. In spite of all of the violence going on – the wedding continues. Things are a little different, but the wedding still goes on. The guest list is different – not just the elite, but anybody and every body The story teaches us, or at this point reminds us that God extends an invitation to everyone to come into God’s presence. We can come as we are. And yet Matthew makes it very clear that the invitation is not just to come and show up. God Enjoys AND Enjoins Us- Matthew 22:1-14 by Leonard Sweet Director/actor Woody Allen is known for a lot of quotes. But maybe his most famous quote is this one. Anyone want to guess what it is? “Ninety percent of life is just showing up.” But Woody Allen is famously wrong. Ninety percent of life is what we do AFTER we show up. Why do we want to believe Allen’s computations so badly? We eagerly embrace Woody’s calculus because it takes us off the hook for all but ten percent of our lifetime of screw-ups, fall-flats, and melt-downs. It is easy to just “be there.” It is much harder to be there for the long haul, the hard times, the big tests, the final curtain. Just “showing up” at your wedding might get you married, but it doesn’t build a living, loving, fighting, mortgage paying, in-law juggling, overdrawn, children challenged, lifetime relationship. Just “showing up” at the birth of your child might make you a “parent,” but it does not make you a changing diapers, up-all-night, learning dinosaur names, cheering at rain-soaked side-lines, doing Algebra homework, enforcing curfews, saving for college, Mom or Dad. Just “showing up” at church every Sunday morning might make you a member-in-good-standing, but it does not automatically put feet on your faith. G. K. Chesterton used to say that “Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.” To be a Christian takes action; it takes a day-to-day commitment to follow Jesus wherever he leads… Put on Your Party Hat In her novel A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley shows readers a highly dysfunctional family which nevertheless attended churcheach Sunday. Yet this is how the novel's narrator sums up this religious practice: "We came to church to pay our respects, not to give thanks." When faith becomes a compartment of life instead of life's vibrant center, when you're just stopping off to put in your time or pay your respects, squeezing God in between everything else that you clearly value much more highly, then you reveal yourself as an ill-clad impostor. You haven't put on a festive wedding garment, you're still refusing to wear that funny party hat because you fail to realize that the kingdom of God is a high, holy, hilarious feast thrown by a king who has prepared the best of everything. Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations In Jesus’ allegory – there is more violence in the wedding. A guy shows up without party clothes and not only is he put out he is tied up and thrown into hell. Apparently hell is right outside of the doors of the party. In light of present event, I would wonder if it was obvious in the way that he was dressed that he was a spy or something. But I also know that in other stories, that the proper attire at a wedding was important. If you read through the new testament – you will see that proper attire is important to our faith. Maybe that is where the tradition of wearing your Sunday best comes from. But the clothes that the bible talks about is usually in our hearts. Clothing and Spiritual Change Clothing is a common New Testament metaphor for spiritual change. Paul wrote in Romans, "Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Rom 13:14). And in First Corinthians, "The perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53). In Colossians, we read, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12). Finally, in First Peter we are admonished, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble'" (1 Peter 5:5). Being clothed anew is a consistent New Testament expression for holiness and righteousness. The old clothes have to come off and new ones put on. This text confronts us with the paradox of God's free invitation to the banquet with no strings attached and God's requirement of "putting on" something appropriate to that calling. The theological point is that we are warned of the dire consequences of accepting the invitation and doing nothing except showing up. Mickey Anders, When Showing Up Isn't Enough I have a new respect for Matthew – I have always felt that the book of Matthew could be a little harsh in it’s lessons. But perhaps that was just the world that Matthew lived in, and he was just trying to give us a glimpse of the difficulties that he was facing. The last line of our scripture says – Many are invited, but few are chosen. That does not sound very hospitable – what does that mean? It means that God extends grace to all of us – but we have to be careful – because grace is not cheap. – nor is it to be taken for granted. If We Miss a Deadline A tough, old cowhand sauntered into a saloon and began drinking whiskey by the bottle. The more he drank, the more unruly he became, shooting holes in the ceiling and floor. Everybody was afraid to take on the old cowhand. Finally, a short, mild-mannered storekeeper walked up to the unruly cowhand and said, "I'll give you five minutes to get out of town." The old cowhand holstered his gun, pushed the whiskey bottle away, briskly walked out, got on his horse, and rode out of town. When he left, someone asked the storekeeper what he would have done if the unruly cowhand had refused to go. "I'd have extended the deadline," he said. Many Christians have that concept of God: if we miss a deadline, God will simply extend it. They do not take the judgment of God seriously. "I sin, God forgives," is their attitude. They wallow in what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls "cheap grace." Grace is not cheap. Grace can be understood only as it stands in relief of God's judgment. God examines us and finds us unfit, unprepared for the wedding feast. But by faith in Jesus Christ - Christ, who gave himself for the expiation of our sins - we are made recipients of God's unconditional acceptance of us as worthy, fully dressed. But that grace has been dearly purchased. Our sins are serious business. It is only because of God's great love for us that God forgives us of our sins and dresses us in new, more appropriate clothes. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, Sermons.com We are all invited to God’s party. It is not just about lunch in a brown paper bag – it is a feast, a feast of a lifetime. We will not be disappopinted. But when we show up, we have to be active participants – not just looking for love and peace, but finding it in our hearts. Rhoda Boggs, The Strawberry Lady, touring with a theater company in Leningrad several years ago, was quoted as giving this report of a visit to a Christian Church in that Russian City. This was while communisim still reigned over that nation. I’m tore to pieces. I’ve been going to church since I could walk, but I’ve never known Jesus like I knew him today. Oh child, he was there – he was out in the open. He was written on every face. He was singin with us, and you’ve never heard such singin. It was old people mostly, and old people can’t sing like that unless Jesus us helping them along. And then the pastor asked that we, the black members of the cast our sing a spiritual. And they listened so quiet, all those rows and rows of faces lookin at us like were were telling them that nobody’s alone, that Jesus is everywhere on this earth – which is a fact they know already, but it seems to me they were glad to hear about it. Anybody doubts the existence of our savior, he should have been there. Well it came time to go and you know what happened? They stood up. The whole congregation stood us and they took out white handerkercheifs and they waved them in the air and they sand God be with you till we meet again. The tears just pouring down their faces, theirs and ours. Oh child it really churned me up. May the Jesus we have in our heart, show up in our worship in our faces and in our lives. Amen. Song I want Jesus to Walk with me UMH 521 Prayers of the People (Just print the title, I will read) Gracious God, we thank you for all that you provide and the blessings we receive daily from you. We know that, at times, we feel hopeless amid so much uncertainty in our world, but we trust you, O God, to bring us peace. And to give us comfort when we are overwhelmed with anxiety. Please help us be calm in the chaos around us and give us the strength to overcome. Gracious God, we bring all our concerns, doubts, and insecurities with the confidence that you are walking with us and guiding us with your Holy Spirit. Mold us into the vessels you want us to be, full of hope and joy. Gracious God, we lift prayers for the homeless, the hungry, the lonely, the rejected, those left behind, and all suffering injustice in our community and the world. Hear their cries for healing, wholeness, and acceptance, O loving God. Gracious God, we ask that your Holy Spirit accompany and protect our brothers and sisters in communities dealing with violence and hatred. We pray for continued strength and courage for all being persecuted by society. Let us not be afraid to stand boldly to speak against all hate and violence. God, you call us beloved, even when we stand in the face of violence and fear. Please help us to continue to be agents for transformation and equity. Gracious God, help us live according to your word’s mandates that call us to love one another as you love us. Help to show mercy and offer compassion and forgiveness to all in our care. Help us acknowledge when we have not been good stewards or loving to our neighbor or the stranger. Gracious God, we pray that our hearts will be open to the change that needs to happen here on earth so your Sovereignty will be a reality and all your creation will sing your praises. Please help us to see each other as gifts from you. Let us enthusiastically embrace your love to share the good news with those who need to hear and receive your amazing grace. Amen. ( United Church of Christ, Worship Ways, Rev. Persida Rivera-Mendez) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (use your own experience to share in this moment, or utilize this more generic statement) Many people participating in church life began learning about stewardship as children. Part of learning about money and sharing our money came from parents (and others), teaching about tithing, or about regularly setting aside “first fruits” to contribute to the weekly offering. Paul, writing to the believers in Phillipi, urged them to “keep on doing the things you have learned and received and heard and seen…” We might encourage the same for each one here, today. You may have learned as a child, or it may have been when you began your life in the church. When, and from whom, did you learn about sharing financially? Who urged you to keep on doing the things you learned? Paul reminds the early Christians when they keep on doing what they’ve learned, “the God of peace will be with you.” And I’ll second that! When I regularly do what I have learned about giving generously to the life of this congregation, I delight in my awareness of the God of peace giving me a sense of inner peace. Let me encourage you to try it! Here’s your opportunity, as we receive our morning gifts, tithes and offerings. Prayer of Thanksgiving Gift-giving God, thank you for the abundance you share with your beloved sons and daughters! We ask you now to receive what has been offered here – a portion of what you have first given us. Accept our gifts. Help us put them to their best use. And encourage us to grow in our capacity to be more like you, so each of us might regularly offer the best we have to help build up your Realm here and now. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Let us go from this place trusting that God is with us and for us in every place. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit be with you and abide with you this day and forever- more. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, John Wurster) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Build a fire under us and within us, O Lord. Enable us to joyfully go into your world to serve your people and in doing so serve you also. Go in peace, dear friends. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener - The King’s Reception (What Are you Wearing to the Wedding?) Perhaps you have heard of the family that moved into the neighborhood and the little country church decided to reach out to the family. When they arrived at the doorstep the members of the church were surprised to find that the family had 12 kids and were for the most part poor. They invited the family to services and said goodbye. Later that week the church responded to their need. They delivered a package to the family and said, "We want you to know that you and your entire family are welcome at our church anytime. We have bought you these gifts and we want you to feel comfortable and at ease in our congregation. We hope you can use these," and they left. The family opened the package to find 14 suits of clothing, beautiful clothes for every member of the family. Sunday came and the congregation waited for the family, and they waited. The family never showed. Wondering what could have possibly happened, after lunch the members of the church returned to the home and found the family just getting back, all dressed in their new clothes. ”We don’t mean to be nosey but we would like to know what happened. We had hoped to see you this morning in church,” the leader of the church inquired. The father spoke up. He said, “Well, we got up this morning intending to come. And we sure do appreciate your invitation. But after we showered, shaved, and dressed, why we looked so proper we went to the Episcopal Church.” That's a funny way of talking about a serious problem. Invitations are sent to many to come to church but so few people respond. It's frustrating. Many of you have reached out to neighbors or friends and asked them to come to church and you know all too well the disappointment, how few respond. Maybe that is why we find this morning’s parable so familiar… All Night Long . . . Some years ago, a friend of mine from church pulled me out into the parking lot to listen to a tape in her car. Darlene Malmo wanted me to hear her favorite Lionel Ritchie song. There was this song about life being like a party, “all night long.” She said, “I am going to party all night long with God.” That is what being a Christian is. Some Christian say that it is not right to have such a mood of happiness and joy. Especially when there is so much starvation. When there is so much hunger. When there is so much suffering in the world, it is not right to be happy. But that is not true. I think of the hymn, “This Is My Father’s World” and the great words to that hymn. “This is my father’s world, o let me ne’ver forget. That though the wrong be oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my father’s world, o let my heart by glad, for the Lord is king, let the heavens ring. God reigns, let the earth be glad.” Yes, in this world there is so much suffering and so much starvation, but it is also a banquet. Joy, in the middle of suffering, is at the core of being a Christian. Edward F. Markquart, Excuses to Avoid a Wedding Humor: No, I’m Just Seasick The writer Bill Henderson recalls meeting a man aboard a cruise ship who claimed to be an expert in guessing professions. "See that man over there," he said. "He is a physician." Bill checked and sure enough that was right. "How could you tell?" he asked the man. "Well," he said, "I saw the caring lines on his forehead and could tell he was a person of great compassion." Bill Henderson pointed to someone else and said, "What about him? What does he do?" "That's a lawyer," the expert said. Bill checked and sure enough, he was. The expert explained that the man had a scholarly look and was somewhat formal, indicating an attorney. Then Bill pointed to another man. The expert studied him and said, "That's a preacher." Bill approached the man and asked, "Are you a preacher?" "No," said the man. "I'm just seasick; that's the reason I look so sad." How strange that many Christians have a long-faced reputation. Jesus could not have been that way; if he had been, children would not have clung to him so readily. Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, Sermons.com Our Hope, Our Terror Several summers ago I spent three days on a barrier island where loggerhead turtles were laying their eggs. One night while the tide was out, I watched a huge female heave herself up on the beach to dig her nest and empty her eggs into it. Afraid of disturbing her, I left before she had finished. The next morning I returned to see if I could find the spot where her eggs lay hidden in the sand. What I found were her tracks leading in the wrong direction. Instead of heading back out to sea, she had wandered into the dunes, which were already as hot as asphalt in the morning sun. A little ways inland I found her: Exhausted, all but baked, her head and flippers caked with dried sand. After pouring water on her and covering her with sea oats, I fetched a park ranger who returned with a jeep to rescue her. He flipped her on her back, wrapped tire chains around her front legs, and hooked the chains to a trailer hitch on his jeep. Then I watched horrified as he took off, yanking her body forward so that her mouth filled with sand and her neck bent so far back I thought it would break. The ranger hauled her over the dunes and down onto the beach. At the ocean's edge, he unhooked her and turned her right side up. She lay motionless in the surf as the water lapped at her body, washing the sand from her eyes and making her skin shine again. A wave broke over her; she lifted her head slightly, moving her back legs. Other waves brought her further back to life until one of them made her light enough to find a foothold and push off, back into the ocean. Watching her swim slowly away and remembering her nightmare ride through the dunes, I reflected that it is sometimes hard to tell whether you are being killed or saved by the hands that turn your life upside down. Our hope, through all our own terrors, is that we are being saved. But this does not mean we lie down before the terrors. For as long as we have strength to fight, it is both our nature and our privilege to do so. Sometimes God's blessing does not come until daybreak, after a full night of emptying ourselves and wandering in the wrong direction. Our job is to struggle with the terrors, neither surrendering nor stealing away until they have yielded their blessings. Barbara Brown Taylor, The Other Side – Tales of Terror, Times of Wonder There was a doctor who received a call late at night to come to the hospital. Someone was near death and needed a physician's attention or death was certain. The hospital was 30 miles away in another town. The doctor dressed and took off in his car. At a stoplight a man jumped into his car, pulled a gun, and told the doctor to get out. "I need your car. Get out," was all he said. The doctor got out and had to find another way to get to the hospital. When he finally arrived the nurse met him and told him the woman just died. "You are too late, Doctor. But would you go and say a word to the husband. He is weeping uncontrollably in the family lounge." When the doctor entered the lounge he found the husband in a corner. To his great surprise he discovered that the husband was the very man who pulled the gun on him because he needed his car. Sometimes we push out of our lives the very thing that can help us. It might be the church, it might be the Bible, Christian friends, a nudge to make a clear commitment. It might be taking the step of accepting the invitation to the marriage feast. George S. Johnson, Critical Decisions in Following Jesus, CSS Publishing Company _______________________________ Everyone Is Invited The writer Drew Duke recalled from her childhood her second grade Valentine's Day party. Several days earlier a big decorated box had been placed at the front of the room by the teacher. It had a slit in the top. Each student had been invited to bring valentines addressed to friends and to drop them into the box. Then on Valentine's Day, one student was designated by the teacher as the postman to distribute the cards. Earlier that week Drew's mother had bought a package of 35 valentine cards. Drew asked her, "Why did you buy so many?" She replied, "So you can give one to each person in your class." "No ma'am," Drew said, "We don't do it that way. We only give cards to our special friends. I only need four cards. I don't even like some of the people in my class." Her mother said nothing else. Drew signed four cards and put the names on the front. Everybody was excited when the Valentine's Party began. The girl designated as postman began calling the names and handing out the cards. Some very popular children got bunches of cards. Drew heard her name called quite often and was having a wonderful time. But then she became aware that the little girl sitting in front of her had received no cards. Her head was drooping lower and lower. Then suddenly the postman called this little girl's name and delivered to her one valentine. Her face lit up like morning sunshine. She tore open that valentine, hurrying to see who had cared enough to send it. Drew looked over her shoulder and saw that it was signed "Your secret admirer." The little girl smiled and glanced around the room, wondering who it could be. "But", said Drew, "I knew who it was but I didn't tell. I recognized my mother's handwriting." Her mother had obtained a class roster and had sent a card to every child in the class. Drew learned from her mother what her mother learned from God: that God's love reaches even the unlovely, and everybody is invited to God's party! Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, Sermons.com Time for God’s Banquet Our first priority is God. If you are too busy to heed God's voice then you are too busy. If you are too busy to perform some service in His kingdom, then you are too busy. We must not forget that there will come a time when our relationship with Him will be the only priority that will matter. In the famous French story, The Little Prince, the dearest friend the main character makes on the fictitious planet to which he has been banished is a fox. When the fox must leave the little prince forever, he offers to tell him the most wonderful secret in the world if the prince meets certain conditions. When the little prince has met all the conditions, he asks to be told the greatest secret. The fox replies, "Only that which is invisible is essential." Think about that for a moment. It is true. "Only that which is invisible is essential." In A Journey with the Saints, Thomas S. Kepler has written: "The secret of the revolution in the lives of the saints lies in the fact that their lives are centered in God. They never seem hurried, they have a large leisure, they trouble little about their influence; they refer the smallest things to God. They live in God." That is the great secret to successful living the realization that when one reserves time to come to God's banquet, all of the rest of life will fall in place. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, Sermons.com _______________________________ What Do We Want to Tell the Children? The parable of the Wedding Banquet teaches us that we must be prepared and that character (both these symbolized by the proper clothes or lack thereof) is important in the Kingdom of God. But that does not mean that the party, the wedding banquet) is not meant to be a party. The kingdom of God is a great and exciting event. But what do we teach our children about this Kingdom? Do we teach them that the party will be bore. In a poetic parody of "serious" instructions to children, Ann Weems writes, "What do we want to tell the children? Jesus Christ says, comb your hair. And what do we tell the children? Jesus Christ says, sit on your chair. And what do we tell the children? Jesus Christ says, be polite. And what do we tell the children? Jesus Christ says, do everything right! Jesus says, please sit down Jesus says, do not frown. Jesus says, don’t cry if you’re hurt. Jesus says, don’t play in the dirt. Jesus says, don’t have any fun! And what do we want to tell the children? We want to tell them shhhhh!" From Ann Weems’ Reaching for Rainbows Thankful for God’s Gifts Jenny Lind always spent a few minutes alone in her dressing room before a concert. Her maid, who locked the door and stood guard, has told what happened in those last moments of preparation. Miss Lind would stand in the middle of the floor, her shoulders back, and her head up, draw a deep breath, strike a clear, vibrant note, and hold it as long as her breath lasted. When the overtones had all died away, she would look up and say: "Master, who has given me this undeserved gift, let me ring true tonight." When we realize what a gift this invitation to God's kingdom is to us, we too will try our best to ring true. We have been invited to a grand feast of worship today, and as we come, our lives ought to be changed. If we come prepared to worship, ready for prayer, conscious of our sins, then worship will be worship indeed. Jerry L. Schmalenberger, When Christians Quarrel, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.

God in all of God's Glory

October 22, 2023 Exodus 33:12-23 21st Sunday After Pentecost Year A God in All God’s Glory Prelude Welcome Call to Worship We gather today to remember and proclaim that we are God’s people. We are God’s people! God’s presence is among us! Like Moses, we seek an encounter with God’s goodness. God, show us your goodness that we may glorify you in all that we do. God’s goodness passes by us every day in the gracious gifts of creation and in the faces of our neighbors. God, help us notice your goodness in everything and everyone that we meet. When we notice God’s goodness all around us, we recognize this truth: all things are God’s. Let us give to God the things that are God’s! Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, April 2023. Opening Prayer God, you are our refuge. When the world gets to be too much with us, we turn to you for consolation and healing. Help us today to hear your words of compassion. Enable us to be those who would willingly serve all people in need. For we ask these things in the name of Jesus our Lord. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me UMH 361 Children’s Sermon By Your Side By Lois Parker Edstrom Pictures of Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet available at: http://tinyurl.com/lw93l7f You may be familiar with Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh is a bear of very little brain. He isn’t exactly smart, but he is very loveable. Pooh has a best friend named Piglet. Piglet is shy and easily frightened, but when Pooh is with him he overcomes his fears and becomes brave. With Pooh by his side he is able to face danger, especially when he needs to help his friends. Have you ever had the experience of being frightened to do something and then found that if your mother, father, teacher, or a good friend was by your side you felt stronger? Braver? Ready to try something that seemed scary? You may have felt that way the first time you jumped into a swimming pool, or got on a bike without training wheels, or went to your classroom on the first day of school. It helps to have someone you can trust to help you through those scary times. Moses, the man who led the Israelites through the wilderness and through all kinds of difficult experiences, also felt the need to have someone by his side. Moses talked to God and asked, “…let me know whom you will send with me” (33:12). Moses must have felt tired, discouraged, and frustrated because the people he traveled with grumbled and complained a lot. He felt he needed someone to help him. This is how God answered Moses: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (33:14). The Bible teaches us that God is with us. When we feel discouraged or frightened it is helpful to remember God’s words: I…”will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2013, Richard Niell Donovan Responsive Reading. Psalm 99. UMH 819 Prayer of Illumination Lord, in the stories of your Scripture, give us truth to cling to; help us hear your still, small voice. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Carolyn Holbrook Prickett) Scripture Exodus 33:12-23 Sermon God in all God’s Glory Have you ever found yourself in a position or place where you would rather not be? Sometimes it is our own doing, our own poor choices that bring us to a place we would not choose. At other times it is a series of circumstances that carries us to that place. Story of a girl feeling like everything in Christianity is fake A church near campus has a chapel for university students to meditate and pray. Students have the opportunity to reflect and share their thoughts in a notebook. The entries sometimes reveal an inner struggle. One young woman candidly shared, "My thoughts, ideas, beliefs, preconceptions; my ways and feelings of what is right or wrong are being challenged." We can probably all identify with her at some point in our lives. Other people sometimes challenge what we believe. We wrestle with how we can live in the world while maintaining our faith. This same young woman writes, "I do not want to live a secluded lifestyle from the rest of the world." We can sense her pain when she writes, "I'm frustrated with some of the Christians I know whom I feel I have to hide some things from." She then pleads, "From the small details of my life to the big — show me truth in how you desire this life of mine to be lived." Then in despair she concludes, "All I see is fakeness in me, in him, in her, in all." She cries out, "I want to know what is real." Have you ever felt that way? Perhaps it was peer pressure that thrust this young woman into a place where she was uncomfortable and clearly did not want to be. I think we have all had those in times when we feel that we are just going through the motions, but nothing is going right, or that nothing really matters. I think that we all get to the point where we even think that we are not important to anyone. And we don’t matter. Story of student asking student am I really there? The story Up the Down Staircase is a story of a teacher who takes as her first teaching assignment a class in the ghetto of New York City in a high school. The story tells of her difficulties relating to this mixed racial class of deprived children. Finally, she puts a small question box on her desk, and she tells the children that anything they want to say to her, they can write on a slip of paper and put in the box. This fails to elicit any response, until she finally receives a small slip of paper in the box. She finds out later that it had been written by a Puerto Rican boy who, when he was in school at all, would sit back in the corner of the room, antagonistic, uncooperative, completely at odds with the teacher. Plaintively he had written on the little slip of paper: "I wish you knew who I was." Here is the cry that comes out of our crowded ghettos everywhere: "I wish you knew who I was," - the cry for recognition of our individuality and our personhood. The ultimate story of feeling like you are just a file in a cabinet- Morris Bishop tells this story of feeling like a file in his job’s file drawer Norman Cousins puts it this way: "Impersonality is epedemic. It is almost as though we feared contact, almost as though the soul of man had become septic. If a man becomes ill, he hardly hangs up his hat in the doctor’s office before he is placed before a whole battery of machines and testing devices. The traveled road is not between the mind of the diagnostician and the heart of the patient, but between the clinic and the laboratory. If a man submits himself for a job, he is seen, not as a personality, but as a fit subject for various tests which presumably have more to do with ascertaining his worth than the human responses which may figure largely in the work that he is called on to do." Morris Bishop has caught the spirit of our day in the lines he calls The Perforated Spirit: "The fellows up in personnel Have a set of cards on me. The sprinkled perforations tell My individuality. And what am I? I am a chart On the cards of I.B.M. The secret places of the heart Have little secrecy for them. It matters not how much I prate They punch with punishment the scroll The files are masters of my fate They are the captains of my soul. Monday my brain began to buzz I was in agony all night I found out what the trouble was - They had my paper clip too tight." CSS Publishing Co., Inc., His Hands, by Jon L. Joyce I think we have all gotten to the point in life where it seems that we feel that our lives is reduced to a series of unfortunate events. Our lives is a series of appointments, case numbers, situations, file numbers. We get used to not being important to other people and to the world. But what happens when things get so bad that we are convinced that we don’t matter to God. How can we know that God is really there for us? There are times in our life, when we are struggling where we will ask where is the God in this situation? When things happen that we were not expecting, or when life just doesn’t seem fair, or we feel that we or someone we know just doesn’t seem to have a fair chance in life, we question God, and the point of even believing in God. In our scripture, Moses starts to ask God a lot of questions about their journey. As the leader he starts to ask God where God is, he doesn’t see God’s leading very clearly, So he asks God are you there, are you leading us, if you don’t lead us – what is the point of the journey. And finally, he asks God to just show up- help us to see that you are really there with us. When we feel like we are just going through the motions, and nothing is really happening, where can we go to find God? Do you ever have moments in your life when you feel that God must have decided somehow not to be on speaking terms with you anymore? Maybe you haven’t seen him answer your prayers for some time, or perhaps you haven’t sensed his presence in your life for a while. For some reason, you have been led to wonder if he’s giving you a cold shoulder. You begin to think that he has stopped talking with you altogether. When we are questioning god’s presence in our lives, there are three, no I will talk about 4 sure fire places to go to find God. The first is in prayer and relationship. Our scripture shows that clearly. This scripture is about Moses relationship with God. He had a very close relationship with God. And reached a point felt there were not talking anymore. God’s relationship with Moses was completely different. They talked to each other like two old trusted, lifelong friends (v. 11). They seemed to enjoy each others’ company, and everyone in the camp knew it. The people knew when Moses would make his way to his conversation with God. They would watch Moses pass on his way to the tent of meeting, and silence filled the camp when he passed. Out of respect for Moses and fear for God, they stood to their feet when he passed their way. They knew better than to show any form of disrespect. In his deep and abiding friendship with the Lord, Moses made a serious request. He appealed to the Lord, “Show me your ways” (v. 13). We can understand why Moses would make such a daring request. He wanted to know what God expected of him and the people who had followed him out of Egypt. He seemed to be asking God, “Show me your intentions.” If Moses only knew what God had in mind for them and what he wanted them to do, he would lead the people to do it True to his nature, the Lord didn’t hold a grudge against Moses or the people. He responded favorably to Moses’ request. And he did something else. In a way, he told Moses, “You want me to give you a map, but I would rather give you a guide.” Moses made a second request of God. He asked the Lord, “Show me your glory!” Again, he made a daring request, but he felt confident in making it because nothing was off-limits between him and his God. We can appreciate Moses’ request. God’s glory involves his physical presence. Consequently, seeing his glory means seeing him with our eyes. How many times have you wished that you could actually see Jesus in the same way that his disciples saw him? If you could look on his face, listen to his voice, observe his body language, and touch his hand, everything would be better for you. The questions that have gone unanswered so far could be put to God directly. The needs that you have could be brought to his attention instantly. You could hear for yourself God’s answer and watch him actually take care of the need that you brought to him. Probably most important, you could feel God’s gentle touch as he placed his loving hand on your shoulder or hugged you in his strong arms. His physical presence with us would make following God easier. It wouldn’t be best for us. Like Moses, we can’t see God’s face and live. To see God’s face means to behold what lies ahead of us. Frankly, if we knew all of what’s ahead of us, we would probably die of shock! No, God doesn’t show us where we’re going, but he lets us see where he’s been. By the same token, he’s not always going to let us see what lies ahead, but he’ll point out how he walked with us in the past. That’s what the Lord seemed to be saying to Moses. He told him, and us by inference, “I won’t show you my glory, but I will let you see my goodness.” He went on to say to his friend, “Stand here close to me, and I will protect you.” As Moses moved next to the Lord’s side, he felt God’s hand directing him to a cleft in the rock that served like a cradle. There God placed his friend for his protection. Like a baby tucked safely into a cradle by a caring and loving parent, the Lord placed Moses in the cleft of the rock. Then God’s mighty hand covered him. When his glory passed by, no harm would come to Moses. What’s the most striking part of the scene for you? For me, it’s when God told Moses, “Come here and stand by me” and then placing him gently in the cleft of the rock and covering him with his hand. That portion of the scene raises an important question. How often does the Almighty invite us to come close, to make our way to him, to stand by his side so he can watch out for us? When we come close, we find in God’s presence that we can trust him. We can trust him to place His mighty, gentle hand over us to hold us close. He calls us to come close so God can protect us in his mighty hand. The story of Moses, God’s friend, encourages us. Through it we get a clear picture of how much God wants us to know him intimately. Granted, he expects us to come to him on his terms, not ours. But his terms always serve us best in the long run. By coming to God and learning to trust him, we come to comprehend how much he wants to guide us, how good he is to us, and how much he wants us to come close to him. What does this story have to say to us when we feel that God’s not on speaking terms with us? It assures us that God doesn’t hold grudges and that he’s always willing to open his arms wide to us. What’s even more beautiful, he’s waiting for us to take that important step. In fact, he may have been waiting for some time now, so don’t put God off any longer. He wants to hide you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with his hand. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Walking with God: and other Cycle A sermons for Proper 23 through Thanksgiving, by Argile Smith We can also find God in the life of Christ. When we look at the life of Christ, we don’t see how God looks, but we do see who God is. Ultimately, I suppose, this is exactly what we experience in the person of Jesus Christ -- not how God looks, but who God is. Or as Edmund Steimle once expressed it: in the One who dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, we see "God's afterglow."3 In the One who healed the sick and fed the hungry, we view the footprints of God. In the One who forgave sinners and befriended outcasts, we find evidence of how God acts in a broken and hurting world. Indeed, through the One who died in our stead -- taking upon weary shoulders the burden of human life at its lowest ebb -- we are finally shown all that we could ever hope to bear: the hidden backside of God stretched out up on a lonely cross.4 But perhaps the most accessible place to find God is in the heart of others. We find it in love and kindness.In those times when we are searching for God, the best place to look is in the hearts of others. When I was in high school, every senior was required to do a community service project. Now I'll admit, mandatory volunteerism seems like an oxymoron. However, if you wanted to graduate, you participated in the program. I was assigned to a clothing locker in downtown Detroit. If the truth be told, it wasn't my first choice. But inasmuch as I was already starting to feel the Spirit's gentle nudging toward ministry, I decided I could use the experience as a way of encountering God at work in the world. Every Wednesday, I made my way over to the small Episcopal Church which ran the clothing locker -- always hoping that I would see the Lord's glory, but never being quite sure where to look. There was one morning, though, that I will never forget. It was a bone-chilling day in February, and when I pulled into the parking lot, there was already a line of people at the door. I had barely gotten myself organized, when down the stairs came an elderly gentleman carrying an armload of clothes. "These are all donated from my church," he said, "Where do you want them?" "Just put them over there for now," I replied, pointing to a table against the wall. "I've got a whole van load!" "Well, I'd offer to help," I said, "but you see the line at the door." "Don't worry about it. I can manage." He smiled and trotted back up the stairs. I let the first fellow in. "How can I help you?" "I need a pair of shoes," he whispered in a low, gravelly voice. I peered over the counter, and my goodness, did he ever. I mean, the shoes he was wearing weren't fit to play fetch with a dog. They were cracked and worn. In fact, he had taken a piece of twine and wrapped it around them just to keep the shoes intact. "What size do you wear?" I asked. "Size ten." I went back to the shelf and rummaged through a few boxes. "It doesn't look like we have any right now," I said, returning to the counter. "But people bring in clothes all the time. You see this man unloading his van. It happens almost every morning. I'm sure if you come back tomorrow ..." "But I need shoes today," he insisted. "I know you do, but I can't give you what I don't have." "Mister, it's awfully cold outside," he pleaded. "I realize that, but I'm not a cobbler. I mean, I can't make shoes for you." Well, about this time, the elderly gentleman came over. I hadn't been playing much attention to him, but evidently he had been paying attention to us. "Did I overhear that you wear size ten shoes?" he asked. Startled by the interruption, the man nodded meekly. "Well, I wear size ten," the older gentleman said. "Here, I'll trade you." He slipped off his shoes and set them on the counter. "You may have to break them in a bit," he explained, "they're new!" Having finished unloading the van, he wished us both a nice day, and walked out onto the cold, bitter pavement of that February morning, wearing those old, cracked shoes -- gift-wrapped with twine. Looking back, I now realize that something of God's glory passed before me that day -- veiled in the love which is constantly walking in our midst, seeking always to find us. You know, it's rather embarrassing to admit, but I'd always thought I would see that glory seated safely out in the audience. And here, without realizing it, I had been up on the stage all along. Just whose story is this anyway? ________________________________________ Just this morning I came across an article written about Albert Einstein and his relationship with his daughter. He wrote a series of letters to her, but he asked that the letters not become public until years after his and her death. They have just been released. He spent his life telling the world about a force in the universe that was so powerful that it created the universe. He created the formula to explain this force and how it was able to put the planets, the stars and everything into being. He has always been very clear that force is not scientific, that force is love. In the letter that I read today – he tells his daughter that love is the most powerful thing in the world. It is the one force in the world that we have no control over, we really cannot dictate, we have no way of expecting it, and no real words to explain why it works – but we see evidence of it everyday. Afterall that, he told his daughter that he never told her how much he loved her, but said that she was the most important thing to him. How touching. We spend a lot of time personifying God, trying to explain God in human terms. Is God a father or a mother, is God capable of entering into our lives and controlling certain outcomes? Can we really have a conversation with God and expect God to respond to us in English? The bible makes it very clear that God is a spirit. God’s preferred language is usually silence. And like Moses, we all demand that God speak, that God show up, that God makes something happen so that we know that God is there. Today, in scripture we come to the end of the book of Exodus. As we read this book, we have watched the relationship of Moses and God. It starts with Moses escaping life and noticing a bush burning on its own. Moses listens to the call of God and brings his whole tribe out of slavery. Moses becomes a leader, follows God, shows the people how to look for God and follow. And not just as they are about the enter the promisedland and live in God’s blessings – Moses asks for God to finally reveal himself. God tells him that is not possible – God is a spirit not a body. But God tells Moses that God can show him his backside. – in other words he can see the but of God, but not God’s face. I think there is some truth in us only being able to see the butt of God. At the burning bush, God tells Moses that his name is I am – or more correctly, I will be what I will be. God’s name is destiny – God is the future, God is what will be. So it is impossible to see God clearly, none of us knows the future. We can never see what it ahead of us, even though we are all headed in that direction. Hope is the Kingdom of God. But the only way to see evidence of God in our lives is not to look forward, but to look back. If we are looking for proof of God in our lives, we only find it when we look back on events in our lives. When we look back for old troubles, old fears, old challenges – we can see clearly how God and only God was able to pull us through. None of us would be here today, if we had not overcome those old challenges – with the help of God. We can all relate to the poem footprints in the sand, where we can see where God carried us through. When Moses started to question where he was leading the people – he had to look back and remind himself of his past. Before the Isrealites could claim the promise of God, they had to go back over the journey and remind themselves of how they Got here in the first place. Every year, we read something from Genesis and the journey in the desert, so that we can look back on our faith journey – and see the tracks of God in our lives. We look back, so that we can have the strength to go forward – into an unknown future – knowing that God is with us. In our personal lives, and in the mission of the church, we aren't promised that everything will go the way we want. We face challenges, surprises, pain, and difficulties. We can face tasks that seem too great for us to accomplish. We may say, along with Moses, that if we have to keep going, we want to know that God is with us. If life is painful, and we can't make deals with God to avoid the pain, we at least want to have the assurance that God is there. This peculiar little story, with God hiding Moses in the rock and covering up his eyes so that Moses can see God's back, lets us know that we will not likely get a full vision of God. We don't see God directly, unmistakably. We never see God face to face, so to speak. There is a mystery to God we can never penetrate. Even in that mystery, though, God reaches out to us. We can experience God's presence, even if it seems only a fleeting glimpse. We may experience God's presence in a feeling of assurance after a prayer. We may experience it as a feeling of power and energy when we stand up to social injustice. Sometimes we just feel God's love breaking through our loneliness and fear. God is available to us in the church, through the Holy Spirit. God's presence may not be unmistakable, but it is real. Whatever Moses saw when he saw God's back, it was enough to sustain him as he picked up to continue his long journey toward the Promised Land. In the twists and turns of our lives, in the exhilarating but frustrating work of the church, God will give us just enough presence that we know we are not alone. With that glimpse of God's back, we can put one foot in front of the other on our journeys. If we can hold on to the glimpses of God's back, we can face what the future holds with courage. Wherever life leads us, God will go with us. CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (Last Third): View from the Mountaintop, by Charles L. Aaron In Mark Connolly’s classic play, “Green Pastures,” there’s a moving scene in which Moses watches his people as they go into the promised land. You know that Moses was not able to go into the promised land. That seems to be one of the tragedies of the whole story. Having given his life to deliver the people out of bondage, to forego moving into the promised land. The setting is Mt. Moab. From the mountain, Moses can look across the horizon and see the destination, but he knows that he’s not going to be with them. His day is coming to an end. Joshua has already taken his place. In Mark Connolly’s play on stage, Moses sits disconsolate on a rock as the twelve tribes pass by to receive his final blessing. They march off toward the land of Canaan. As they go, the old campaigner’s shoulders sag and his head bows low. With every sound of those retreating footsteps, the light grows dimmer and dimmer. The stage is almost in total darkness. But suddenly, you’re aware that Moses is not alone. There’s somebody else on stage, behind him. The presence walks over to where Moses is sitting. Gently, he lays his hand on his shoulder. Without looking up, Moses knows who it is. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, his shoulders began to straighten and he raises his head. He says, “Youse wid me, Lawd, ain’t ya? Youse wid me.” And back conies the answer, “Cose ah is, my chile; cose ah iz.” That’s what we need to know isn’t it? That the Holy God is a God of love, and He’s with us. Because He is. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Maxie Dunnam God is here with us, calling us forward, calling us to play our part in destiny, calling us not to lose sight, calling us to believe in the spirit of love. For me, the question is not Where is God, or even God show yourself so you can believe. Find God, even if it is only God’s butt – its still a glimpse of the glory of God. God still has a place for us all. One of the places that I go to find God is music. One of the songs that stands out to me every time I hear it – a song by Leanna Crawford – How can you not see God. In her video, she shows a spot in the Northwest on the pacific ocean that she used to go with her family, She goes there when she is looking for God. It inspired her to write to Song – How can you not see God? I see the sun rise in the morning And a million stars at night I hear the birds, they can't stop singing hallelujah I see His goodness when I fall down And it's grace that picks me up Every day, I can't stop singing hallelujah How can you not see God In every little thing, in every little moment? How can you not feel loved? How can you not? How can you not? 'Cause He's in the middle of Every little thing and every little moment How can you not see God? How can you not? How can you not? Everything is evidence (ooh-ooh) Showing me that You exist (oh-oh) All creation singing hallelujah Everything is evidence (oh, everything) Showing me that You exist (He's God) All creation singing hallelujah How can you not see God The places where we find God when we know where to look are innumerable. Moses sadly never made it to the promisedland – but in reality none of us ever do – destiny is always a place in the future – and yet his spirit lives on with the spirit of love, kindness and faith. He showed us how to continue on the journey, how to move forward in the wilderness – but most importantly he showed us what a relationship with an awesome God looks like. God is always there – we just have to have faith. Song Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise Prayers of the People (just print the title) God, we know that you see everything that happens in this world; nothing we pray about is news to you. Yet still we pray, asking that your peace and wisdom rest on us, and your presence transform our lives. We pray for those across the world and in our communities who are scared today; for those who face violence, because of where they live or where they work or who you have created them to be; for those whose future seems dark; for those whose anxiety eats away at them and who cannot find peace. Spirit, living flame, encourage them. We pray for those who hurt today; for the sick, the hungry, the abused, the grieving, the lonely. We pray for those who struggle with pain in body or mind or spirit. We pray for the compassionate, who hurt because the world hurts. Jesus, healer, comfort them. We pray for those who woke up angry today. We pray for those who feel excluded, overlooked, trapped. We pray for those who feel entitled, unappreciated, out of control. We pray that where anger leads to pain, you would bring peace, but that where anger leads to justice, you would bring wisdom. Jesus, table-turner, guide them. We pray for those who are full of hope today. We pray for those who are beginning new relationships or careers or working to get clean. We pray for those who see sprouts of your kingdom poking up through cracks in the sidewalk. We pray for those who are a light in the darkness. Strengthen them, Holy Spirit. These prayers we lift you always, that we might be attuned to the needs of your children. We also lift to you now the specific concerns of this day: God, there is much we have forgotten to pray for today, yet we know that nothing escapes your notice. Direct our eyes this week, we pray, that we might come to know your heart more fully. 9Presbyterian Outlook – Carolyn Holbrook Prickett) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship (inspired by Matthew 22) Matthew sets up a time of conflict between the Pharisees (religious leaders) and Jesus in chapter 22, with the Pharisees trying to trick Jesus into denouncing the Roman emperor. Jesus answered their question in a way which amazed them, and foiled their plan to discredit Jesus. When asked for the coin which was used to pay taxes, Jesus asked a question about whose image was on the coin. However, good Jews would recognize the human image shown on the coin was someone made in the image of God. This coin could be easily understood as both available for taxes (serving the emperor) AND for God (and all that builds up God’s Realm). As we come to our offering, remember! We are stewards/care-takers of all God has provided. Each one of us decides how best to use the resources we have. What will you bring today for the on-going work of this congregation and in response to the needs of our community and our world? With joyful hearts, let us share our tithes, our gifts and our offerings, that God’s Realm will be blessed by these resources. Prayer of Thanksgiving Holy God, receive this offering, filled with symbols of our lives in coin and check and notes for our electronic gifts. Accept all of it as a sign of our desire to give back a portion of what you’ve first given to us, for you are holy and call us to holy lives of service and thanksgiving. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Gicing0 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook May truth gentle your heart. May truth find itself in your speech. May truth guide your actions and attitudes. May truth release you to be fully you. May truth compel you to greater love and compassion. May truth fortify you as you go into the world as God’s agent of healing and hope. Live in truth, go in peace, Be love. In the name of Jesus the Christ. (United Church of Christ, Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Blessed and redeemed, go forth into this world, linked together, in the knowledge and love of God; and the peace of God, which passes our understanding, will go with us, everywhere, now and forever. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Sermon Illustrations Only the assurance of that Presence can make us happy. One day John Tauler, the fourteenth century German mystic, met a beggar on the highway, and, as was his custom, he addressed the beggar, saying, "God give you a good day, my friend!" The beggar answered, "I thank God I have never had a bad day." "Well then," said Tauler, "God give you a happy life." But the beggar responded again, "I've never been unhappy." "What do you mean?" asked Tauler. "Well," said the beggar, "when it is fine, I thank God; and when it rains, I thank God. When I have plenty, I thank God; and when I am hungry, I thank God. And since God's will is my will, and since whatever pleases him pleases me, why should I be unhappy?" "Who are you anyway?" asked Tauler. "I'm a child of the King," came the reply. "You, a child of the King?" laughed Tauler. "Where is this King?" "In my heart," whispered the man in rags. "In my heart." He Lights Up My Life! But, more often than not, in all kinds of tragedies that occur in life, we are likely to ask, "Where was God when I - we - really needed him?" The Israelites were not the first people to ask that question, nor will we be the last ones. The story Up the Down Staircase is a story of a teacher who takes as her first teaching assignment a class in the ghetto of New York City in a high school. The story tells of her difficulties relating to this mixed racial class of deprived children. Finally, she puts a small question box on her desk, and she tells the children that anything they want to say to her, they can write on a slip of paper and put in the box. This fails to elicit any response, until she finally receives a small slip of paper in the box. She finds out later that it had been written by a Puerto Rican boy who, when he was in school at all, would sit back in the corner of the room, antagonistic, uncooperative, completely at odds with the teacher. Plaintively he had written on the little slip of paper: "I wish you knew who I was." Here is the cry that comes out of our crowded ghettos everywhere: "I wish you knew who I was," - the cry for recognition of our individuality and our personhood. "The fellows up in personnel Have a set of cards on me. The sprinkled perforations tell My individuality. And what am I? I am a chart On the cards of I.B.M. The secret places of the heart Have little secrecy for them. It matters not how much I prate They punch with punishment the scroll The files are masters of my fate They are the captains of my soul. Monday my brain began to buzz I was in agony all night I found out what the trouble was - They had my paper clip too tight." CSS Publishing Co., Inc., His Hands, by Jon L. Joyce